wink

Meaning

Noun

1. An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
2. A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks.
3. A brief time; an instant.
4. The smallest possible amount.
5. A subtle allusion.

Verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To close one's eyes in sleep.
2. (intransitive) To close one's eyes.
3. (intransitive) Usually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye.
4. (intransitive) To close one's eyes quickly and involuntarily; to blink.
5. (intransitive, transitive) To blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy. (When transitive, the object may be the eye being winked, or the message being conveyed.)
6. (intransitive) To gleam fitfully or intermitently; to twinkle; to flicker.

Synonyms

blink

twinkle

flash

flicker

nictitate

twinkling

nictate

winking

instant

close

blinking

nictitation

squint

trice

winkle

glimmer

eye blink

blink of an eye

shimmer

heartbeat

💓

nod

scintillate

eye-wink

nictation

blink away

glint

split second

sparkle

❇️

sign

shut one eye

New York minute

inkling

hint

jiffy

bat

🦇

hint given by eyes

beckon

connive

dance

💃

flare

flutter

gleam

glisten

glitter

glow

gutter

instantaneousness

moment

occult

one-eyed

Translations

zwinkern

blinzeln

parpadear

guiñar

😉

pestañear

cligner

guiño

😉

sbattere le ciglia

ciller

ammiccare

😉

Zwinkern

knipogen

😉

mit dem Auge zwinkern

einen Augenwink machen

αναβοσβήνω

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈwɪŋk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wynken

Inherited from Old English: wincian

Cognate with Middle Low German: winken

Cognate with German: winken

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: wäänke

Cognate with Dutch: wenken

Cognate with Latin: vacillare

Cognate with Lithuanian: véngti

Cognate with Albanian: vang

Cognate with Sanskrit: वङ्गति

In summary

From Middle English wynken, from Old English wincian (“to wink, make a sign, close the eyes, blink”, weak verb), from Proto-West Germanic *winkōn (“to close one's eyes”), from Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”). Cognate with Middle Low German winken (“to blink, wink”), German winken (“to nod, beckon, make a sign”). Related also to Saterland Frisian wäänke, Dutch wenken (“to beckon, motion”), Latin vacillare (“sway”), Lithuanian véngti (“to swerve, avoid”), Albanian vang (“tire, felloe”), Sanskrit वङ्गति (vaṅgati, “(he, she) limps”), French guigner (“to eye, sneak a look at”).